He made a man out of my man

When I was first married, I didn't really know much about home-making.  Growing up we ate out a lot and to be honest, I didn't care much to help my mother out when she cooked.  My husband was (and I strongly emphasis was) a better cook than me due to the two years he lived with my dear friend Bob.
Bob is one of the best men I have ever met.  He is quirky, brilliant, hilarious, generous, and most importantly, God-fearing.  I love him very much and miss seeing his smiling face since moving away from Indiana.
Now, Bob and I did not start out on the right foot together.  You see, I insulted one of his beloved opera singers.  Yes, as everyone who knows him knows, Bob loves opera.  In fact, to say that Bob loves opera sounds ridiculously like the understatement of the year.  This is a situation where one of my childhood arguments could sound plausible: Bob loves opera times infinity (and beyond!).
So, with that context, the first time Bob and I had a real conversation,  I told him I did not like Joan Sutherland's voice.  I admit that I was an arrogant and ignorant freshman and as a now older, and more seasoned singer, recant this statement.  But at the time, I had no idea of Bob's allegiance to this woman or else I would have kept my mouth shut.  I think it took Bob an entire year to forgive me for this comment (have you forgiven me yet Bob?).  He also hurdled an insult at me soon afterward and called me a mezzo-soprano.  Ouch.
After that rough first year though, I grew very fond of this dear man.  He took me to see operas in Chicago, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis and had me over to dinner constantly through out my undergraduate life.  I am pretty sure he is quite fond of me too since I was his note-taker in Vince Liotta's Opera Lit class and he got an A because of my mad note-taking skills.  
Maybe I just pitied him for having to put up with my idiot guy friends who lived with him (I mean idiot in the most loving way) or maybe I just liked all the operas he took me to, but I do think Bob is the man of the century.  In all seriousness though, Bob's most important and impressive ministry here on earth is his teaching college-aged boys how to grow into men.  He teaches them how to cook, clean, bath themselves (joking, sort of), live in community with others, and most importantly, how to love in the deepest tangible ways those whom God has made physically weaker for the glory of God's kingdom.  Very few men leave Bob's house without at least a girlfriend (if not a wife) because the path through Bob's house leads to spiritual maturity and all the ladies can tell the difference between Bob's jackasses (that's what Bob calls them) and the rest of the jackasses out there.  

I know Bob was certainly not solely responsible for turning my husband into a man, but I know he had a great hand in the process.  Thank you Bob for all that you do.  Now, when are you going to grow up?
This blog post is only a snippet of the greatness of my friend Bob.  Bob can tell you about his amazing journey through life much better than I can.  He wrote a book that I highly recommend you read.  You can purchase his auto-biography on Amazon for $13.